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ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



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ABRAHAM LINCOLN 




AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY MR. JOHN F. NASH 
AT OTTAWA, ILLINOIS, FEBRUARY TWELFTH 
ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND SEVEN 



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(PtraM) 
18 My'08 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



Ladies and Gentlemen : 

Every nation and every people have had their myths, their legends, 
their folk lore, their traditions, their poets, their dramatists, their gods, 
their national idols and their heroes. France has her St. Louis; Swit- 
zerland, her William Tell; the Lowlands, their William the Silent; Ire- 
and, her St. Patrick ; Engand, her Arthur, and we, among the youngest 
of all nations, have two, Washington and Lincoln. The name of Wash- 
ington is surrounded with the mystic halo of romance, and the name 
of Lincoln will be so surrounded. 

^ In classic days it was the custom to award heroes the honors of 
divinity. Their idols were set up in splendid temples adorned with all 
the orders of architecture. 

In mediaeval days the church conferred upon its martyrs and 
heroes the title of saintship. Lincoln has not been so honored, but he 
was a martyr and hero, and the American people look upon him as a 
saint. 

We have met here tonight for the purpose of honoring his memory. 
The year 1809 will forever be memorable as the year that gave him 
birth. Many other able men in foreign countries were born in the 
same year, but most of them with whom we are acquainted were to 
the manor born, while Abraham Lincoln was only born in the lowest 
depths of poverty. Many of the former had the advantages of extensive 
travel under the patronage, and at the expense, of great, rich and pros- 
perous nations. Mr. Lincoln, on the contrary, had only the advantages 
in his early youth of a voyage from the Sangamon river to New Or- 
leans in a flat bottom boat, where, having seen men, women and 
children for sale upon the auction block, he forever became an enemy 



A B R A H A M LINCOLN 



to the institution of slavery. Many of the former had the advantages 
of graduating from great universities, hoary with age and with splendid 
traditions, while Mr. Lincoln only graduated from the university of 
observation and hard experience. Many of the former were destined 
to ameliorate thought from the bondage and thralldom of authority and 
traditions and from the teachings of school men. Mr. Lincoln was 
destined to liberate and rescue a human race from the bondage of 
slavery, and who shall say that Mr. Lincoln would have been a greater 
man had he been born in the palace of the C?esars. cradled in the villa 
of Hadrian, or could have listened to the polished orations of Cicero 
in the senate house, or the learned arguments of Hortensius in the law 
courts, or even if he could have sat at the feet of the great Julius to 
learn the art of war and the art of writing commentaries and military 
dispatches. 

A distinguished man, a Southerner by birth and education, a Demo- 
crat in politics and a lawyer by profession, a voluminous writer on 
American history, as well as on congressional government and consti- 
tutions of States, in a book of essays has one entitled, "Great Ameri- 
cans." He classes Hamilton and Madison as great Englishmen, rather 
than great Americans. Their modes of thought and their precedents 
were drawn largely from English sources. On the contrary, he classes 
Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Marshall and Daniel 
Webster as great Americans. Benjamin Franklin was the first unionist 
the country has ever known, for, as early as 1745, at a convention of 
the colonies held at Albany, he suggested a confederation of all the 
colonies for offensive and defensive purposes, and also for commercial 
and postal regulations. Washington was the acknowledged hero of the 
American Revolutionary war. John Marshall, in a series of luminous 
decisions, without the aid of foreign precedents, made our constitution 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



a workable instrument. Webster advocated the union of all the states 
with all his unrivalled eloquence. Calhoun, he calls a great South Caro- 
linian, with one idea. Jackson was a great Tennesseean, a great fighter, 
but never gained a new idea after he was fifty years of age. Benton 
was a great Missourian. With the vision of a prophet and seer, he 
foretold the splendors of our American empire upon the Pacific slope. 
Clay came near being a great American, but he could never quite forget 
that he was born in Virginia ; that Kentucky was his adopted state ; 
that he was surrounded by a peculiar institution which he was some- 
times compelled to support, and this made him provincial, rather than 
national. Yet Clay would have been a great American, had he not 
been a great compromiser. 

But in speaking of the career of Mr. Lincoln, considering all of 
his early disadvantages and the achievements and fame he afterwards 
won, he pronounces him the Greatest American. Mr. Lincoln, born in 
Kentucky, cradled in Indiana, his early manhood spent in Illinois, could 
not, from the circumstances, have had much of State pride. He appears 
from the first to have been a Unionist. He knew no North, no South, 
no East, no West. His horizon was broad enough to take in the whoje, 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Lake of the Woods to 
the Gulf. 

The distinguished American to whom I refer is Woodrow Wilson, 
the President of Princeton University; and I hope I shall give no 
offense when I say that I hope the Democratic party will nominate him 
for their presidential candidate next year. 

The material relating to the career of Mr. Lincoln, both historical 
and biographical, is now so voluminous as to be almost confusing, and 
the central figure so bright and dazzling, without even a burning bush 
to screen one's eyes, is enough to awe one into silence ; and, where 



A B R A H A M LINCOLN 



greater men have essayed to portra}^ his character, it would seem hke 
vanity in me to make the attempt, and probably silence on my part 
would be better than words. Yet every man, great and small, has his 
own point of view, and I have mine. I will try to base my premises 
upon historic truth ; but no one is bound to accept my conclusions. On 
that point, you shall be the judge, not L 

Mr. Lincoln's early boyhood was prophetic of his greater manhood. 
He frequently gathered about him in the evening his neighbors, when 
he would tell his inimitable stories and impart such information as he 
possessed. It must never be forgotten that in those days there were no 
public libraries. There were no newspapers. Communication with the 
outside world was almost entirely cut off. The only books in the 
cabins of the early settlers were probably a copy of the King James 
translation of the Bible, a hymn book, a copy of Pilgrim's Progress, 
and sometimes an almanac. Considering such circumstances, it is won- 
derful that Lincoln should have known anything of the world. He ap- 
pears to have tried several occupations. He was an amateur surveyor, 
a clerk in a country store, but he spent more time in telling stories 
than in waiting upon customers. Finally, he became a storekeeper; but, 
of course, he failed in business, as might have been expected. He did 
not try, however, to defraud other men by throwing himself upon 
courts of bankruptcy, but gave up everything. After this, he took what 
jobs he could get, and came out all right. 

About this time he appears to have run upon a copy of the Revised 
Statutes of Indiana, which he read with great eagerness, as he did 
everything else, and it was said that it was the reading of that book 
which made him determined to become a lawyer. He procured Black- 
stone's Commentaries, how I do not now recollect, but, working all 
day at such jobs as he could get, he spent his nights reading the book 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



by the light of log fires and tallow dips. Finally, he iourneyed to 
Springfield, was admitted to the bar, and became partner of J. F. Stuart. 
His stock of learning must have been of the slimmest kind, but he ap- 
pears to have developed rapidly, and soon became known in Sangamon 
county as a successful trial lawyer and an expert in the art of cross- 
examining witnesses. He served also two terms in the Illinois legisla- 
ture. At other times he would engage in his professional duties. He 
became a stump speaker for the Whig cause. In 1844 he stumped for 
Henry Clay, and in 1848 for General Taylor. But soon his legal prac- 
tice grew, and he next traveled the circuit with the judges in the San- 
gamon and McLean county circuit. In 1846 he became prominent 
' enough to be nominated for Congress in the Sangamon district, served 
one term, but, failing of re-nomination, he went back to the law prac- 
tice and supposed that his political career was at an end. But soon 
things changed. In an evil hour, under the lead of Judge Douglas, who 
was chairman of the committee on territories in the Senate, the Mis- 
souri Compromise was repealed and the infamous Kansas and Nebraska 
bill introduced. When Mr. Douglas came home, he found the prairies 
on fire, and was compelled to take the stump in defense of his meas- 
ures. That was Mr. Lincoln's opportunity. He re-entered politics and 
never closed it until the day of his assassination. Mr. Douglas and Mr. 
Lincoln became political rivals and antagonists, and remained such 
until the day of Mr. Lincoln's election to the Presidency. 

Mr. Lincoln became famous as a political speaker. After the Lincoln 
and Douglas debates, his reputation became national, and he was in- 
vited to make a speech at Cooper Institute, which was favorably com- 
mented upon by all opposition newspapers. The New York Tribune, 
in an editorial the very next day, expressed the regret that there were 
not more people to hear this speech, for that probably he would never 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



be seen or heard of again so far east as New York. Yet six months 
from that time he was nominated, and in less than one year was elected 
President of the United States. He journeyed to Washington in the 
last days of Mr. Buchanan's administration. 

The State of South Carolina had seceded. Mr. Buchanan, in his final 
message, deplored the condition of things, but said there was no power 
in the federal government to coerce a state. 

When Mr. Lincoln arrived in Washington he found in session a 
convention of prominent Northern and Southern men, met for the 
purpose of arriving at some compromise between the two sections. The 
presiding officer of that convention was John Tyler. xA.fter some dis- 
cussion, no agreement could be arrived at, for the demands of the 
Southern men were such that the Northern men could not accede to 
them without dishonor and disgrace. Then the convention adjourned. 
At the suggestion of one of the Southern men, who thought they ought, 
as a matter of respect, to call on the President elect, he was notified that 
they would do so. Most of them called. They found him standing, 
silent and alone, in one of the parlors of the old Willard hotel, and, 
when they entered, he received them politely. As they were introduced 
to him, he spoke to them pleasantly, saying to this one that he was a 
taller man than he expected to see ; to another that he was a younger 
man than he expected to see ; and to Mr. Stanley, of North Carolina, 
that he had not changed much in appearance since they sat together 
in Congress in 1847. One of the Southern members asked him what his 
policy would be. Mr. Lincoln told them that that was neither the 
proper time nor the proper occasion to announce his policy, that they 
would learn what his policy was in his inaugural address ; but he said, 
"Gentlemen, in the meantime would it not be well to stop talking, giv- 
ing a little here and a little there, and try the Constitution a while 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



longer?" They went home to secede. It is a- matter of history that it 
was not to make terms, but to gain time to carry out their designs. 

At his inauguration, Mr. Lincohi was surrounded by a cordon of 
soldiers. Upon assuming the duties of his office, he found the treasury 
so low that the officials of the treasury were obliged to borrow money 
at a high rate of interest to pay the expenses of the government. What 
there was of the army had been sent away into Texas under the com- 
mand of the secessionists. The navy was dispersed into distant waters 
where it was not needed. Every one of the government departments 
was filled with spies and secession sympathizers. So appalling was the 
situation that it is a wonder the President himself did not break down 
under the strain. And here let me say, for I lived in those days myself, 
that many of Mr. Lincoln's admirers, in low tones and with bated 
breath, asked each other whether Mr. Lincoln would be equal to the 
occasion; and there were many doubting Thomases, I am sorry to say. 
But the people had not long to wait. Mr. Lincoln had one hard job on 
his hands, and that was to subdue his cabinet. Four of the members 
of his cabinet had been candidates for the nomination for President. 
Two of them, Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase, had been governors of their 
respective States and United States senators, and had had great ex- 
perience in executive and administrative affairs, while Mr. Lincoln had 
had comparatively no such experience. Mr. Seward appears to have 
thought that Mr. Lincoln would make a respectable man to fill the chair 
and draw the salary, but he (Seward) would be the real President. 
He was soon undeceived. Within a few weeks after the inauguration, 
and after the new administration had commenced its labors, Mr. Seward 
called upon the President and stated that the government appeared to 
be drifting, that no policy had been announced and people were becom- 
ing alarmed. Mr. Lincoln told him that if he would refer to his 



lO 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



inaugural message he would find a program laid down in unmistakable 
terms and from that he did not propose to deviate, and plainly intimated 
that when he wanted further advice as to the policy to be pursued he 
would call upon him. For the first time, Mr. Seward got a little inkling 
that Mr. Lincoln was President and he only Secretary of State. 

The war went on. Large armies had been raised and sent to the 
field. Bull Run had been fought and the Northern army defeated. 

Immediately thereafter. President Davis sent abroad John Slidell, 
of Louisiana, and James Y. Mason, of Virginia, for the purpose of 
soliciting recognition of the Confederacy from foreign governments. 
They sailed from the port of Havana in the British steamer Trent. 
The steamer was overhauled by an American naval vessel, whose offi- 
cers boarded the vessel and took off Messrs. Mason and Slidell and 
brought them into the port of Baltimore. Everyone in the North was 
aroused. They looked upon it as an offset for the defeat of Bull Run. 
But soon a dark cloud came hovering over the Eastern sky. Lord John 
Russell, the British Foreign Secretary of State, upon learning of the 
capture of the Confederate commissioners, dispatched a note to our 
government, couched in warlike tones, denouncing the whole affair as 
an outrage, demanding the prompt release of the prisoners and an 
apology for the outrage. To this note, Mr. Seward replied in an equally 
threatening tone, declining to surrender the prisoners or to make suit- 
able apology, and presented his note to his chief, as he was bound to 
do. Mr. Lincoln took the note and looked it over. He said : "Well, 
Mr. Seward, one war at a time is enough." He decided that the con- 
tention of Lord John Russell was correct. It was a violation of 
international law to overhaul and search a neutral vessel on the high 
seas, and under no circumstances could Mason and Slidell be considered 
as contrabands of war. The whole proceeding was in violation of the 



A B R A H A M L I N C O L N ii 



principles for which we have always contended. It was for that prin- 
ciple we went to war with England in 1812, and that we could not 
afford to go back of our own record. Mr. Lincoln then struck out of 
Mr. Seward's note everything that seemed warlike and belligerent, 
toned it down in the spirit of moderation, and ended by surrendering 
the prisoners and tendering an apology. In accordance with Mr. Lin- 
coln's ideas, Mr. Seward was directed to prepare a new note, and was 
ordered to transmit the amended note to the British government. And 
now Mr. Seward learned absolutely and for the last time that Mr. 
Lincoln was chief and he was only a subordinate. It must never be 
forgotten that from that time on Mr. Seward served his chief faithfully, 
ably and well. 

This little incident of the Trent affair, and the surrender of Mason 
and Slidell, gave the country an idea that they did not before suspect, 
that Mr. Lincoln was not only an accomplished diplomat, but that he 
was learned in international law, and that he knew how to manage 
great affairs. 

But a greater than the Trent affair was yet to come. Early in his 
administration a company of clergymen called upon him and urged him 
to issue an emancipation proclamation. He greeted them kindly, but 
gave them no intimation as to what he would do, and dismissed them, 
they going home and reporting that Mr. Lincoln was not fit for his 
high office. The fact was that Mr. Lincoln knew public sentiment 
would not have sustained him had he issued the proclamation at that 
time, and that he had no power to enforce it. The country must be 
able to win battles, and that they had not yet done. 

War went on in the East and in the West. It was generally favor- 
able in the West, but disastrous in the East. Emboldened by success in 
Virginia, General Lee invaded the State of Maryland, and the great 



12 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

battle of Antietam was fought and won by the Army of the Potomac. 
It was its first victory. General Lee retired into Virginia. Then it was 
that Mr. Lincoln saw that the time had come. He sat down, wrote his 
famous proclamation, called his cabinet together, and stated to them 
that he had not called them to ask for advice ; suggestions could be 
made, but the substance could not be changed. He then informed them 
that he issued the proclamation as one of the war powers incident to 
the Presidential office, and as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and 
Navy. 

Columbus discovered America. Abraham Lincoln discovered the 
war powers of the President, which forever stamped him as a great 
constitutional lawyer. 

Yet something more came on the scene. Owing to the disrupted 
condition of the country, Louis Napoleon had seized the opportunity 
of establishing an empire in Mexico, sustained and backed by the 
French army. When the news came to this country, Mr. Lincoln caused 
to be dispatched to the French foreign office a note stating that this 
government would look upon it as an unfriendly act. 

What was the outcome of that affair? 

After Mr. Lincoln's death President Johnson, at the instance of 
Secretary Seward, dispatched an army of 40,000 men into southwestern 
Texas, and then in a polite note to the French government, notified 
them that it was time to evacuate Mexico. The whole affair was car- 
ried on in the regular form of diplomacy, but the diplomacy on our 
part was backed up by a veteran army commanded by General Phil 
Sheridan, and that meant business. That was the first time in the 
history of this country that we ever attempted to enforce the Monroe 
Doctrine, and it was a success ; but it never again will occur in our 
day. So this strange man, with absolutely no experience in executive 



A B R A H A M L I N C O L N 13 



or administrative business, arose from the common man to be a master 
of men. 

The war went on. Vicksburg had been captured. The great battle 
of Gettysburg had been fought and won. General Lee had retired into 
Virginia, and still the war went on. Mr. Lincoln discovered that there 
must be one supreme commander, a general who would command all 
of the armies. Before that time everything had been at cross purposes. 
There was no concert of action between the army in the East and the 
army in the West. To remedy this, Mr. Lincoln caused to be passed 
through congress a bill reviving the rank of Lieutenant-General. Mr. 
Lincoln appointed General Grant to that position and ordered him to 
come to Washington. 

Mr. Chittenden, who was Registrar of the Treasury during Lin- 
coln's administration, in his voluminous "Reminiscences of Lincoln and 
His Times," relates that one day as he sat looking out of his window, 
facing Pennsylvania avenue, he saw twenty-four baggage wagons loaded 
with luggage, drawn by four horses with outriders, and on the sides 
of the wagons in letters of gold leaf the words, "Baggage Headquarters 
of the Army of the Potomac." In 1864, he happened to be at the 
Willard hotel one night when the passenger trains came in, and the 
usual number of passengers came into the office of the hotel and went 
up to register their names. While this was going on, he relates, he 
noticed standing in the rear a small man wearing a black slouched hat 
and wearing a citizen's overcoat, with a small valise in one hand and 
holding a little boy with the other. After the other passengers had 
been sent away, the small man registered. He noticed that there was 
something unusual ; the clerks were polite, obliging and very attentive. 
The bellboys were busy running about, and the small man was taken 
away. He had a great curiosity to know who it was that had registered 



14 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

and made such a commotion. He went up to investigate, and saw the 
name "U. S. Grant and son, Galena, Illinois." The man commanding 
the Army of the Potomac went forth to battle with twenty-four bag- 
gage wagons loaded with luggage. The new commander had come to 
take command with only a small valise. Anyone can draw his own 
conclusions. 

The next day the General called on the President. The President 
told him that he had sent for him for the purpose of letting him know 
that on the following day he should present him his commission and 
that it would be in the presence of his cabinet and the leading govern- 
ment officials, and that he might like to have a little time to prepare 
an address. The President was always considerate of everyone. 

On the following day the General appeared. Mr. Lincoln presented 
to him his commission with appropriate remarks. The General replied, 
thanking him for his confidence, and said that he hoped they would 
not expect too much, that anyone was liable to defeat, that he might 
be, but that he would do his best. The cabinet and visitors retired. 
The President and General were alone. The President then recounted 
to him the condition of affairs, the number of troops composing the 
Army of the Potomac, and the number of reinforcements that might 
be expected in case of need. The President stated that when the army 
went forth, a large number of transports had always been provided to 
convey them back in case of defeat. General Grant then said, "If the 
conditions and numbers of the Army of the Potomac are as you state, 
you need not give yourself any further trouble about transports, for 
when I retreat with the Army of the Potomac, no transports will be 
needed." At last Mr. Lincoln had found a General. One thing more 
asked the President: "Are there any requests that you wish to make?" 
"Why, yes;" said the General, "I would like to make three requests: 



A B R A H A M L I N C O L N 15 



First, that General Sherman may take my place in the Army of the 
West, that General Thomas be retained as the commander of the Army 
of the Cumberland, and that I may be permitted to bring General 
Sheridan with me to the East." These requests were granted. 

It is unnecessary to relate the terrible conflict which waged in 
Virginia and Georgia. Finally, Atlanta fell and Sherman started on 
his famous march to the sea. Thomas fought the great battle of Nash- 
ville and exterminated the army of General Hood. Sherman advanced 
through the Carolinas up to Goldsboro. Lee surrendered to Grant, and 
Joseph E. Johnson surrendered to Sherman, and the war was at an 
end. It then seemed as though the President might have some time 
for recreation, a long time for rest; but such was not to be the case. 
He had never been outside of Washington but twice in four years, once 
at the Hampton Roads conference, and once for two or three days in 
Richmond ; but at last he fell by the hand of a dastardly assassin. 

The Gracchi were assassinated for daring to suggest that the Ital- 
ian people had some rights which even the Roman Senate was bound 
to respect. The Founder of our religion was crucified for having the 
courage to cast out the money changers and for denouncing the short- 
comings of the Scribes and Pharisees and the priests of the house of 
Aaron. Savanarola was burned at the stake for instituting reforms 
which he thought were for the benefit of his beloved Florence. Henry 
of Navarre was assassinated after having issued the edict of Nantes, 
thus giving to the French some religious liberty which they had not 
known. William the Silent met the same fate, after having liberated 
his country from the intolerable burden of the Spanish yoke. But Lin- 
coln fell at the hands of an assassin, after having liberated a race, after 
having restored the Constitution to its pristine vigor and glory, which 



i6 A B R A H A M LINCOLN 



was "of the people, bj' the people and for the people." It would seem 
as if all great reformers were destined to martyrdom. 

During those terrible four years, Mr. Lincoln could usually be 
found by day at the council chamber, at night at the War Department 
communicating with his chiefs in the field. He was a constant visitor 
at the hospitals, visiting the sick and wounded, offering them consola- 
tion and advice, and cheering the wounded soldiers with the hope that 
the war would soon end and they could go home to the arms of their 
mothers. At other times, he might be found at the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution, discussing scientific questions with Prof. Joseph Henry. Flashes 
of his old wit and humor would sometimes appear. 

It is related that at a cabinet meeting when the members came 
in they found Mr. Lincoln reading Artemus Ward. He laughingly 
asked them if they had never read it, at which Mr. Chase was dis- 
gusted that on such occasions and at such times the President should 
be reading Artemus Ward. On another occasion, a party of gentlemen 
called upon him to get him to modify and rescind an order issued by 
Secretary Stanton, which they thought to be unnecessarily arbitrary. 
The President, after listening to them, said that he did not know that 
he had any influence with this administration, but he sat down and 
indited a little note to Secretary Stanton and the order was re- 
called, influence or no influence. I do not vouch for the truth of 
that story; but it is good enough to tell, and thoroughly charac- 
teristic of the man. On another occasion, a party of gentlemen called 
upon him, and finding him temporarily out, commenced discussing the 
personal appearance of Judge Douglas. They spoke of his large head 
and body, and abnormally short legs, and then arose the question, how 
long a man's legs ought to be to make a well proportioned body? At 
this moment the President came in. They related the conversation to 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



him, and agreed to leave it to him. "Well," said Mr. Lincoln, "I think 
a well proportioned man ought to have legs long enough to reach from 
his body to the ground." These are specimens of his humor. How 
was it that this wonderful man rose from the lowest rank and estate 
to the highest position within the gift of the American people? I think 
it must be conceded that he was born with a genius for great affairs; 
but the real reason was, I think, that the man was always learning. 
He never became atrophied and stiff, never boasted that he never 
changed his opinions. One often meets a man of fifty years who boasts 
that he never changes his opinions. Such a man is ready for transla- 
tion. Mr. Lincoln was always ready to change his opinions whenever 
he found that he was wrong. He was a man who always stood a little 
above those around him. He stood on the second rung of the ladder 
while they stood around him on the ground. As they approached to 
take a closer view, he would ascend a little higher. They might step 
upon the lower rung to take further view : the figure would still 
ascend, and so continue, and so it would have been if the ladder 
reached from the earth to the constellation of Orion. He was always 
learning. No man of his time was ever so lampooned, so caricatured, 
so universally talked about, and lied about as was Mr. Lincoln. Yet 
he never condescended to make reply or even defense, but chose rather 
to submit his case to the judgment of posterity. No man ever had a 
better opportunity for revenge upon his enemies. Revenge, that most 
despicable trait of man's character, had no part in his mental composi- 
tion. He had ample opportunity for revenge, but never exercised it. 
Much has been said of Mr. Lincoln's religious ideas. That is a 
subject about which no one knows anything; but fortunately he has 
left us a gospel that will rank with any of the gospels in the Sacred 
Book. 



i8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



He announced in his second inaugural address: "With malice 
towards none, with charity for all." This, it would seem, should satisfy 
any religion, Christian or pagan. 

Mr. Lincoln was a moral hero. He was a stoic of the heroic type. 
He will forever rank with Socrates, Epictetus, and the Emperor Marcus 
Aurelius. 



PERSONAL REMINISCENCES 

I was never an intimate friend of Mr. Lincoln ; do not know that 
he ever addressed one word of conversation to me. I do not know that 
he ever recognized me, except in usual salutations when with him. He 
was a distinguished man, and I was hardly an atom in society. T was 
one of those who stood around whenever occasion warranted, to hear 
him talk or tell his inimitable stories, and it is in that way only I claim 
to have had an acquaintance. 

I first saw Lincoln in 1846. He was then a candidate for Congress 
in the Sangamon district. He came up to Hennepin to make a speech. 
Just a little before that, his opponent, Peter Cartwright, made a speech. 
I was a boy and never had heard a speech, so was exceedingly anxious 
to hear Peter Cartwright. I was teaching school, and applied to the 
board of directors for permission to dismiss school for the purpose of 
hearing the speech. Two of the directors were old line Whigs, one 
was a Democrat. The Whigs thought I might be in better business 
than stopping school to hear political speeches, while the Democrat 
thought it all right, that Mr. Cartwright was a splendid man to convert 
sinners ; and so I heard Peter Cartwright. Soon after Mr. Lincoln 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 19 

came, and T made an application for a second time in fear and trem- 
bling. The two Whigs now thought it proper to hear a Whig address, 
and so the Democrat assented. Mr. Lincoln's speech was of the old- 
fashioned Whig type. He had something to say about the Mexican 
war, a good deal to say about protective tariff, and the right of Con- 
gress to make appropriations for internal improvements. The question 
of internal improvements has been settled by congressional action, but 
the doctrine of protective tariff and original sin we still have with us. 

My first vote was at this election and for Abraham Lincoln. 

The constitution of 1848 remodeled our Supreme Court so that, 
instead of meeting at one place, they put it on wheels, making one sta- 
tion at Mt. Vernon, one at Springfield, and one at Ottawa. Sessions 
were held at the old court house in Ottawa until the new court house 
was built. As long as they were held in the old court house, Mr. Lin- 
coln came every session. I always saw him. The reason was, I was 
clerk in the Circuit Clerk's office. After having dispatched their busi- 
ness upstairs it was the habit to come to the office to sit around and 
tell stories, and it was there I first heard Mr. Lincoln tell some of his 
inimitable stories. He had a wonderful fund of them, and they seemed 
to come as natural as water falling over a precipice. He seemed to 
use his stories for the purpose of illustrating cases, and it was said he 
used them with as much effect in jury trials as the other lawyers did 
the reported decisions of the Supreme Court. I thought then, and I 
now think, that they were not actual events, that he made them up out 
of his own consciousness, much as Hawthorne did his characters in the 
Scarlet Letter and the House of Seven Gables. The opinion has 
gone abroad that Lincoln was in the habit of telling stories of doubtful 
propriety. I can say truly that for four or five years in court I never 
heard him tell anything but good stories. I have inquired of a great 



20 A B R A H A M L I N C O L N 

many old people if it were true. I have found a great many who would 
say that he did so, but never saw a man who heard him tell them. 

The next time I saw Mr. Lincoln was in 1854. I went down to 
Spring-field for the purpose of attending the State fair, and while on the 
grounds I saw a handbill announcing that Senator Douglas would 
make a speech that afternoon in the Representative Chamber of the 
Capitol, and so I forgot all about the fat cattle and large cabbages, 
hurried back to town, and heard him make one of his famous speeches 
in defense of his action in Congress. I was very much struck with the 
Senators style. It was senatorial rather than stump fashion. Tech- 
nically perfect, but delivered in a way as though it came from the Lord 
God of Hosts. Such was his style. After talking about one and one- 
half hours he closed his speech, and I thought that was the end of it, 
when everybody called for Lincoln, and he got up and made answer 
to Mr. Douglas in a speech of about one hour or more in length. It 
was then and there that Mr. Lincoln commenced his warfare against 
Douglas. 

The next time I saw Lincoln was in 1856 at Bloomington, at a con- 
vention held for the purpose of organizing the Republican party and 
making a platform for the forthcoming presidential election. There were 
delegates from all parts of the State, composed of leading men from 
the old Whig party, besides men of the Democratic party and some 
Abolitionists. The convention was held in Rouse's old hall, and there 
were 1,000 present, more or less. After the convention had settled its 
rules, the address of the day was given by Lincoln. He was very tall 
and angular, standing fully six feet and four inches in height and very 
carelessly dressed, with dark complexion, large hands and large feet. 
When in repose, his countenance had a melancholy, serious look, as if 
dreaming; but when speaking or in conversation the whole countenance 



A B R A H A M LINCOLN 21 



changed and he became a different man. I do not think I ever saw 
anyone whose transformation was so complete. Around the platform 
were arranged reporters from Chicago and St. Louis. Mr. Lincoln arose 
to address the convention. The reporters sat there with pads before 
them, pencil in hand and ready to begin work, and in five minutes 
Lincoln had gained their attention. Lincoln's style of oratory was en- 
tirely dififerent from that of any other person I ever heard. His voice 
was rather loud and shrill, and sometimes harsh, with great carrying 
power. He could have been heard as easily by ten thousand people. 
He was not so ornate as Wendell Phillips, not so great a rhetorician 
as Edward Everett, nor so great a word painter as Robert Ingersoll, 
but, if the power of oratory lies in the ability of an orator to convince 
his hearers, Mr. Lincoln was a great orator. He converted more people 
to his way of thinking than any American has done, save Thomas Jef- 
ferson. He spoke for an hour or an hour and one-half, first on the 
constitutional right of Congress to legislate on slavery in the territories, 
and then branched onto the moral side. He was absolutely invincible. 
I have never heard an^^thing that could appeal to the passions of men 
as that speech which he made at Bloomington, and I thought then and 
I think now that in substance it will rank with the oration delivered 
by St. Paul on Mars Hill. At the close of that speech the reporters 
had forgotten what they came for. They made not a memorandum ; 
and that was the famous lost speech. Some attempts have been made 
to revive it. It can never be done. 

The next time I saw Mr. Lincoln was in Ottawa at the first Lincoln 
and Douglas debate in 1858. It is hardly necessary for me to .speak of 
that, nor of the large assemblage here, as everyone in Ottawa knows 
everything about it. Here I will digress a little and relate an incident 
about Douglas. In 1849 Senator Douglas passed through Ottawa and 



22 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

stopped here for a day or so to visit his political friends. Among 
others he called upon the Postmaster, tli^n Col. Gibson. I happened 
to be in the postoffice and was introduced to Judge Douglas. It was 
the first time I had seen him. He had just returned from abroad. He 
related his experiences and travels in Russia, and discussed his journey 
from Moscow to St. Petersburg, also his reception by Emperor 
Nicholas. This was before the Crimean War. In 1858 I was on the 
reception committee. I do not remember that I was appointed a mem- 
ber of the committee, but I acted as one of the committee. The recep- 
tion committee in a body called on Mr. Lincoln at the residence of Mr. 
Glover and then proceeded to Mr. Reddick's to call on Senator Douglas. 
It fell to my lot to make the introductions. I stepped forward to speak, 
and Mr. Douglas stepped forward. He said, "Why, Mr. Nash, I have 
not seen you since 1849." It fairly took me off my feet, but I soon 
regained my equanimity, and later discovered that this was one of the 
secrets of his political power. 

The next time I saw Lincoln was in 1861, after he had been elected 
President. I visited Springfield that winter and was one of the secre- 
taries of the Senate. Mr. Bushnell was a senator, and he and I had 
rooms in the Johnson building. Mr. Lincoln had a suite of rooms 
there also, and was there forty days before he went to Washington. I 
saw him every day and always exchanged salutations, but nothing more. 
I was once in his office. Mr. Lincoln had invited Mr. Bushnell to call. 
I went with Mr. Bushnell, and there I saw for the first and last time 
John Hay. During the time that the President was there, he had called 
his cabinet to Springfield to visit him. One day he entertained them 
at dinner at the Cheenery House, and it so happened that Mr. Bushnell 
and I sat at the table immediately adjoining, where we could see them. 
Mr. Lincoln sat at the head of the table, and his associates were Mr. 



A B R A H A M L I N C O L N 23 



Chase, Secretary of the Treasury; Mr. Cameron, Secretary of War; 
Gideon Wells, Montgomery Blair, and, at the foot of the table, Mr. 
Bates. Mr. Seward was not present, but I had seen him and heard 
him make a speech at Chicago. I saw all of the cabinet there except 
Seward, and Lincoln sitting at their head. The man who most at- 
tracted my attention was Mr. Chase, a rather large, dignified, fine 
looking man, who looked as though born to command. Secretary 
Cameron was a man past the prime of life. Mr. Wells did not appear 
to attract my attention. Montgomery Blair did. He had the appear- 
ance of a man of fashion, well groomed. He was a man who would 
,be at home at any place or in any society. If I had not known that Mr. 
Bates was the leader of the St. Louis bar, I should have taken him for 
a college professor, instead of the great lawyer that he was. 

Finally, I saw Mr. Lincoln when he left Springfield to go to 
Washington never to return alive. 

I stood upon the north side of State House square and saw the 
carriages go to the depot. I did not know that he was going to speak, 
so I did not go down. I have always regretted that I did^iot. 

He went to Washington, issued a proclamation calling Congress 
together for the next 4th of July, and called for 75,000 troops" for 
ninety days. Here I want to digress a little, but you will see in the 
end that it has special reference to Lincoln. Gov. Yates called a 
special session to make such apporpriation as he could for the accom- 
modation of the volunteers and to arm and equip them. A bill was 
introduced as suggested by the Governor and met with prompt re- 
sponse. The Republicans had two-thirds majority in both houses, but 
did not like to force it because it was likely to meet with opposition. 
All members of Congress were present except Senator Douglas and 
John A. Logan. The Legislature would meet from day to day and 



24 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

adjourn, determined in the end to pass the bill. It was announced 
that Senator Douglas would come in a day or two. Some time in the 
night while I was fast asleep I heard a voice calling, "Get up, John, 
and light the gas." To which I replied, "Wash, get up and light your 
own gas." The command came again. I thought it was a matter of 
discretion to obey. I asked what he wanted. He said, "Get a piece 
of paper and I will tell you what I want." I got the paper, and Mr. 
Bushnell dictated the famous joint resolution calling upon Senator 
Douglas to address the Illinois Legislature. I said, "Why do you not 
ask Senator Trumbull what he thinks?" Mr. Bushnell said, "I do not 
care about Trumbull. He is all right. What we want to know is 
what Douglas thinks." He said, "We do not want to carry this bill 
through as a party measure, but want it to appear that it is as near 
unanimous as possible." I made a copy before I went to bed. In 
the morning I gave the original to Mr. Bushnell and saved the copy. 
In the morning Mr. Bushnell arose in the Senate chamber and said 
he desired to offer a resolution. The presiding officer asked what 
should be done with the resolution, to which some Senator moved it 
be adopted. It was adopted by twenty-five senators present. I had 
a great curiosity to see what the effect would be on the other side of 
the State House. I passed over to the Representative chamber. In 
less than ten minutes it was announced that the resolution was adopted 
by the other branch. The committee was appointed, Mr. Bushnell 
chairman, five of the Senate and seven of the House. On the day of 
his arrival, the committee saw Senator Douglas and solicited him to 
make an address. He replied favorably, and that he would address 
them at 2 o'clock the next day. Two o'clock came. The Senators and 
the officers of the Senate went to the Representative chamber. Being 
an officer of the Senate, I had a seat on the platform, and sat, fortu- 



A B R A H A M L I N C O L N 25 

nately, not more than ten feet from Mr. Douglas, who made the most 
famous speech of his life. It was most impressive and stamped him 
all over as a patriot. He told his political friends that it was time 
to forget all party conditions ; that the welfare of the country was at 
stake; that it was the duty of every man to throw aside his prejudices 
and go in for the Union — the whole Union. He closed the address by 
stating that he was going to Washington to support Lincoln ; and so 
at last, Mr. Douglas, after six years of warfare with Lincoln, came and 
occupied the same platform with him. What would have happened to 
that administration if the Senator had lived? It is needless to say 
that after that Senator Bushnell was the most conspicuous man in 
either branch of the Legislature. 

The next time I saw Lincoln, his body was lying on a catafalque 
in the Representative hall of the old Capitol, clothed in the habili- 
ments of the grave. Mrs. Nash and I attended the funeral. It was 
said that there were at least 100,000 people viewing his remains and 
attending the funeral obsequies. There were present all of the Gov- 
ernors of the Northwestern States with their staffs. The Diplomatic 
Corps was all represented, either in person or by attaches. The Presi- 
dent and Cabinet, for obvious reasons, did not attend. The army was 
represented by General Hooker, the navy by Admiral Porter or Davis. 
It took two days for the visitors to pass through that hall to view 
the remains. On the day of the funeral, none were admitted but the 
family and immediate friends, and distinguished visitors. The funeral 
services were conducted by Bishop Simpson, the Bossuet of the Ameri- 
can Methodist Church. The funeral procession was followed by a 
detachment of military. The streets were thronged with a large con- 
course of people, who stood with bowed and uncovered heads. No 
sound was heard but that of muffled drums and the dirges from the 



26 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

military bands, and so the procession moved to Oakwood Cemetery, 
where they deposited the remains of Abraham Lincoln in the bosom 
of Mother Earth. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. So 
died the greatest of the Presidents. His name is enrolled among the 
immortals. His star was the bright and shining light to which the 
eyes of all people will turn who prefer liberty to slavery, who prefer 
constitutional government to that of autocracy. His star will be like 
that which guided the Wise Men of the East to the manger at Beth- 
lehem. 

In the palmy days of Greece, the Athenians erected the most beau- 
tiful temple ever built by human hands and dedicated it to a woman 
under the appellation of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom. In that 
temple they placed her statue, carved and chiseled in ivory, gold and 
marble, the work of the greatest artist the world has known. All this 
they did to perpetuate one of the most beautiful ideals in Grecian 
mythology ; and I know of no other cult, no other people and no other 
religion that has done 'more to beautify and adorn all that is noble 
and grand in the character of woman than did the people of that 
wonderful Attic race. 

Let us hope that at some future time the American people will 
erect a Parthenon to the memory of Abraham Lincoln, and in it place 
his statue, solitary and alone, like Athena, and that it be wrought and 
chiseled in Pentellic marble, with arms outstretched, holding in one 
hand the Emancipation Proclamation and in the other his Gettysburg 
speech and his second Inaugural address, to encourage and enlighten 
all civilized people. 



KAY 18 im 



